Make Your Own Flower Box From A Wood Crate And A Rusty Sign
Who would think that you could make a decorative item out of an aged wooden crate and a rusty old sign? I had sat staring at that wooden crate for quite some time, wondering what I was going to do with it. I knew I wanted to make it into something decorative and fun, especially with the craft challenge I have going. But, it wasn’t until I also had the rusted sign that the idea came to me.
I love having containers for flowers. Whether they hang on the wall or just sit on a table, a place for flowers brightens a room. I especially like putting flowers in something rustic since the contrast highlights the beauty of the flowers.
Instructions To Make Your Own:
STEP ONE: Depending on the condition of your crate, prepare it for use. If I would have had a nice crate with good graphics, I definitely would not paint over it. There are some really nice antique crates that should be left as is if you have one. For those, I would just clean them up a little if they need it with a damp cloth. I might even use an antique wood cleaner on it to remove any grime. The crate I had was in pretty bad condition and it was for cod fish fillets. I didn’t especially want to leave the full graphics. Instead I cleaned up the box by lightly sanding and then going over it with a damp paper towel.
STEP TWO: Even though I didn’t care for the graphics on my crate, I didn’t want to paint over it with a solid paint color. Instead, I used a white wash paint and applied it with a wet brush. This way you can see the tint of the wood color showing through plus just a hint of some of the lines from the graphics.
STEP THREE: The sign that I wanted to use to enclose my flower box was just a tad too short to meet the sides of the crate. There are a couple of things I could have done. First of all, I could have cut a thin board to fit across my crate, nailed it to the sides of the crate, and then nailed or glued the sign to the board. I also could have just nailed a couple of thick branches across the crate and then nailed or glued the sign to the branches. Since I was off by such a small amount, I opted to just attach a birch branch to each side of the sign by connecting through a hole on each side of the sign and twisting it in place with a thick wire. When I went to insert the sign, there was a little give as I was pushing it in place and then it acted like a tension rod. There was no moving it!
STEP FOUR: Insert foam blocks into the center of the box with tacky glue and then insert your flower picks. If you are going to hang this on a wall, simply attach a picture hanger on the back.
